Wednesday, January 30, 2013

A jihad we all long for (Hajj Travelogue 2)

Bismillah.

Indeed we found comfort in the words of Rasulullah (salallah alaihi wasalam) to A'ishah (radhiallahu anha) when A'ishah sought permission from the Prophet to go for jihad. The Prophet said to A'ishah: "Your jihad is hajj."

The fruit won't taste as sweet if people were to pick the fruit, slice it and hand it to us on a nice plate. We ought to work it out ourselves to appreciate it. Struggling in finding the means for the body to travel from our earthly house to the House of Allah is muqaddimah (the beginning) of the jihad. Complementing the journey of the physical is a journey of the heart towards Allah, and it is even sweeter. When we have a higher purpose for our actions, even simple seemingly mundane tasks would become meaningful.

Yesterday we visited the Hajj Agency again, to appeal. Our job is to put in the effort while Allah watches the contents of our heart, what our niyyat is and if we are sincere. And it is His ultimate decision who gets the calling. We shall knock on the door a thousand times if need be. If we were to knock on people's doors ten times, it might provoke them negatively. But Allah longs that we keep knocking on His door. 

Oh, dear...I can see the Hajj Agency building from my desk. It is the only building in the city which has "Allah" written atop its structure.

Anything and everything about hajj make me emotional. Reading about hajj makes me tearful. Such is the power of His calling. Labbaikallah humma labbaik - a phrase we shall recite over and over from the time we make niyyat at miqat until arrival. But we are now merely at the initial stage, from the starting line of making the intention of getting a letter of invitation.

No doubt it will require a big sum of our wealth. But we cannot claim that it is "our wealth". It is He who provides and we keep praying for His generous bounty. We should look forward to parting with our earnings because the value of hajj is way beyond its price tag. Every cent spent will be multiplied 700 times. And by the grace of Allah, He will let me have the honor of paying for my mother In sha Allah. That is His Decree. He has not decreed that I have a wealthy husband to pay for my hajj. LOL. Allah decrees that He makes me earn to pay for myself and my mother In sha Allah. That is an opportunity I am deeply grateful for. Allah Kareem, He creates a good deed and attaches it to His servant. Just that we pray Allah will facilitate our effort in purifying ourselves completely before we embark on the physical journey. For now, I am just praying Allah will give me and my mother a long life that we could reach the hajj months In sha Allah. We take one step at a time.

Today we learned from observing our surroundings, about people dying and leaving plenty of jewelry and money. But sadly the children have not been taught the importance of keeping a good deen. Clearly, the best gift one could leave for one's family is not property or cash. Indeed, what the Prophet (salallah alaihi wasalam) said to Muadz bin Jabal was a salient point, that he Muadz being 'aleem, inclined to spread the deen and being a source of guidance to people, was better for him than any amount of wealth and camels that he could have wished for.

Alhamdulillah Allah shows us the value of things as they really are. We must thank Allah that He invites us and keeps us on His deen.

Allahu 'alam
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One good article on hajj:
http://www.haqislam.org/the-internal-dimensions-of-hajj/

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